“Got to go, see you soon,” I tell him without waiting for a response. “Fuck, that doesn’t look suspicious at all,” I grumble as I watch from inside the car. It’s instantly going to be branded as arson. I consider my options as I watch Tristan and Colton hurry across the expanse of grass between the car and the apartment. They left as soon as the car stopped moving, not paying attention to me in their concern for their partners, but I know the minute I get out, all eyes will be on me, especially the suspicious eyes of the police. A few of them are on our payroll, but not all of them. Even though I literally just arrived, I will become the number one suspect. Actually, Gio will probably be number one, but I will be a close second. Where is my brother?
I peer through the crowd, my heart racing as I try to catch sight of him. I follow the direction I saw Tristan and Colton go, and I can see them just inside the barrier. Colton’s arm is around a robe-clad, redheaded female. Vienna’s okay. I heave a sigh of relief. I hadn’t realized I was holding my breath. My gaze moves, and I find Xavier with Tristan standing next to him, waving his hands as he talks animatedly to him. I wonder if they are talking about the fire or if he’s telling him about finding me and Colton together in the room.
My suspicions are soon confirmed as both of them turn toward the car, and Tristan points in my direction. There’s still no sign of Gio as the four of them duck under the tape and head my way. My heart starts to pound furiously as my anxietyrises. Where is my brother? Was he injured? My gaze moves to a couple of ambulances parked behind the fire trucks. I see people sitting in them and being treated for smoke inhalation, but I can’t make out any features.
I don’t wait for them to get to me before throwing the door open. “Where’s Gio?” I ask as they reach me.
Vienna’s face is stained with tear tracks, and she coughs pitifully, her whole body supported by Colton. “You need to get yourself checked out,” I tell her. “Why hasn’t she been seen by a paramedic?” I snap, looking at Xavier and raising an eyebrow.
He arches an unamused eyebrow at me. “Easy, Tori.” He holds up his hands like he’s trying to placate a feral animal. “We’re headed there now. It’s where Gio and Casey are. She was coughing really badly, so he took her straight over. Vienna and I had to speak to the fire chief about the fire,” he explains, but I don’t bother waiting to hear anything else, hurrying over toward the ambulances.
I kicked off the ridiculous heels before I got out of the car, so the grass is damp and cold against my bare feet. I also left my fur coat behind, because getting the scent of smoke out of it would have been a nightmare.
I don’t wait for the others, my suspicious nature starting to rear its ugly head. Sage is right. These four seem to be everywhere we go. I mean, I know they are Gio’s friends, but the Black Rose is not Gio’s scene. That’s a me thing, and I kind of feel like they’ve ruined it for me. I liked the anonymity of it, and I can’t get that back now. Even though Colton was becoming my favorite sub, I’m not sure we can ever return to what it was before we discovered one another’s identities.
I’m actually completely thrown off balance by these four, which hasn’t happened to me in a long time. I’m not an overly emotional person. Even before everything that occurred with Stacey and losing Dad, I didn’t have a lot of friends and couldn’tunderstand how people thought being popular and social was so important. Sure, I love my brother, Uncle Mickey, Aunt Carla, and my dad, and I’m pretty sure Sage has wiggled his way into my heart, but I’ve never been particularly emotional. That may be because I was raised with no motherly influence. Penelope certainly wasn’t loving, but my head is spinning, and I am completely overwhelmed. I’m so fucking angry with my brother and so busy with the business that I didn’t think there was room in my life for anything else. Now, I have all these conflicting emotions. I’m certainly attracted to the four of them and really tempted by their offer, but I can’t help feeling like something is off. Every time I interact with them, something niggles at the back of my brain, warning me not to let my guard down.
I sigh as I approach the ambulance. I hear my brother shouts something, but it’s not intelligible. My body is tight with tension, and my anger starts to simmer again. I didn’t get to make anyone bleed tonight, so I’m walking on thin ice as I refrain from pulling my gun out and blowing Gio’s brains all over the back of the ambulance.
I’m going to have to stop using the Black Rose in Suncity, and that makes me even madder. I know there is another in Vegas, but this one was conveniently close. I guess I can combine work and pleasure, though, and check on all our own holdings there. Ugh, my subs were so well trained. I hate the idea of having to train new ones.
I approach the row of ambulances and peer into the first one. There are a couple of pajama-clad teenagers being treated, but neither of them is my brother or Casey. I move on to the next one, and when I look inside, I scowl at what I find. Stacey and another female are there with oxygen masks over their faces. I don’t recognize the girl as someone we went to school with, but I don’t bother stopping because I don’t really care if she chokes or suffocates.
Thankfully, she doesn’t see me, so there are no snide remarks or flirty comments for the boys who are following me, keeping Vienna between them. I duck around a policeman, keeping my head turned so nobody recognizes me, and peer into the final ambulance. It’s there I finally locate my brother and his girlfriend. Gio is coughing with a mask over his face while a paramedic listens to his chest with a stethoscope. Casey is wringing her hands, her face covered with tears as she watches. Seeing him makes some of the tension leave my body now that I know he is relatively unharmed. I guess I should feel a small amount of relief about Casey too, but I don’t. In fact, it probably would have benefitted me if she had perished in the fire, but that’s not something I will ever voice aloud.
I open my mouth to say something, but Casey starts to sob, and I wait for her to finish.
“Our apartments. Where are we going to go? I don’t want to go home and have to live with him again, Gio. You know how I feel about that. The others will like it even less.”
Huh, that’s certainly interesting information. I need to dig deeper. It seems my brother is keeping even more secrets. The relief I felt at seeing him safe slowly ebbs away, replaced by the usual annoyance as the others catch up to me.
“Casey,” Vienna calls with relief, and Gio lifts his head, catching sight of us just as the paramedic steps away from him.
“You’re going to be fine. Take it easy for a couple of days, nothing strenuous, and drink plenty of fluids. If your throat continues to be irritated, use some throat lozenges, and if the cough doesn’t go away, see your doctor,” the medic tells him as Gio slips his arm around Casey and pulls her close, whispering words of reassurance.
I stand back and listen as the paramedic checks over Vienna at Xavier’s insistence. “What are we going to do now? I don’t want to go back to that house,” Vienna mutters. Those arethe same words Casey spoke. Xavier quickly shakes his head, shushing her, but Gio must have heard her.
“It’s okay, you don’t have to. We’ll help them out, won’t we, Tori?” Gio looks at me with his eyebrows raised, but I can see the cold steel in his eyes, as if he’s daring me to contradict him.
I don’t know exactly what he’s suggesting, but it better not be what I think it is.
“Tori,” Sage yells, causing me to turn my attention to him, ignoring what Gio just suggested. I find him hurrying toward us from the direction of the parking lot, and I smother a sigh of relief. I was feeling very vulnerable now that most of these guys know my secret fetish, and the fact that Gio obviously doesn’t have my back over his new friends. Hopefully, Sage is still on my side and hasn’t been seduced by these admittedly distracting people.
Chapter Two
“Fuck, is everyone okay?” Sage looks around the group, grabbing Vienna’s hand and giving it a little squeeze as she assures him she’s okay.
“My eyes hurt, and so does my throat, but Xavier got us out as soon as the window smashed.”
“The window was smashed?” Sage focuses on that comment.
“Yeah, a flaming projectile came through the window. It definitely looks like it was an attack on me, but they must not have been sure which dorm room was mine, so they took out both just in case,” Gio growls.
Well, shit, look at that, there is some fire left in him after all. Pardon the pun, but that’s a hell of a shot considering they were up so high. They must have had some kind of launcher.
“I’ll check all the security cameras as soon as I can get my laptop…” Colton winces and looks back at the fire. Crap, of course all their belongings are in the fire. My annoyance at my brother slides away, and it’s replaced by sympathy for their situation. They just lost everything—or everything they had with them. I’m assuming they have things at their usual place of residence, but that’s a whole other story, judging by the two girls’ reactions. Damn it, I really need to dig deeper into their history.I’ll talk to Sage about it. I hate that I’ve let this slide, but with all my other responsibilities, it didn’t seem so urgent. I’m thinking maybe that should change now.
“Oh my god, I’m so sorry. All your stuff,” I say awkwardly, especially since a few days ago, I was committing arson.
